Combined brassiere and girdle



P 18, 1956 B. c. SANDERS 2,763,007

COMBINED BR'AssIERE AND GJERDLE Filed July 29, 1953 INVENTOR COMBINED BRASSIERE AND GIRDLE Birdie C. Sanders, Kalamazoo, Mich.

Application July 29, 1953, Serial No. 370,924

3 Claims. (Cl. 2-30) This invention relates to improvements in combined brassieres and girdles, and more particularly to the manner in which a long brassiere is connected by fastening means with a separate girdle.

There are many advantages in the wearing of a long brassiere, some of which include the presenting of smoother lines, a better posture, less strain and pull on the body, maintaining the girdle in proper position and better fitting of the clothes to the body.

Heretofore it has been the practice to provide such long brassieres with four attaching hooks adapted to be connected with loops on the girdle, or for detachable connection therewith by other suitable means. The hooks have been connected with the brassiere by fabric loops or suspension tabs, stitched to the edge portion of the brassiere. frequent tendency for such loopsto pull loose or tear off from the brassiere, and often cause a tearing of the cloth of the brassiere itself. This requires a restitching of. the fabric, or elastic loops, to the fabric of the brassiere, which can be done conveniently for two or three times, after which, however, the fabric of the brassiere will have become worn to such an extent that it must be thrown away and replaced. Moreover, the frequent pulling loose of such elastic fasteners causes a great inconvenience to the wearer and often results'in causingdiscomfort and in secure fastening of the garment during wearing, which is highly objectionable in practice.

One object of this invention is to overcome these objections to the fastening means that connects a long brassiere to a girdle, and to provide improved connections therebetween which will present smooth lines and secure fastening of'the garments at all times.

A further object of the invention is to provide suspension tabs for the long brassiere, which are provided with means for detachable engagement with the girdle, and also means which detachably connects the suspension tabs with the brassiere so as to permit replacement thereof when they become worn.

Still another object of the invention is to improve the construction of the suspension tabs for a long brassiere by providing hook connections between the tabs and loops attached to the brassiere for replacement of the suspension tabs whenever desired.

These objects may be accomplished according to certain embodiments of the invention by providing loops on the edge portion of the brassiere, which may be engaged by hook buckles which detachably engage such loops and may also have detachable connection of the suspension tabs therewith, which suspension tabs are provided with hooks to engage the usual eyes or other attaching means on the girdle. Thus, the suspension tabs can be replaced readily and quickly when desired, or when they become worn, and may also be adjustable or elastic, if desired, to maintain the proper relation between the girdle and brassiere. It is preferred that twin suspension tabs be used to anchor the brassiere to the girdle and to distribute the points of connection over a wider area.

This has been objectionable because of the.

These embodiments of. the invention areillustrated in the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. l is a perspective view showing the garment from the front;

Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the .rear portion of the garment;

Fig. 3is a front elevation of one form of twin suspension tabs, detached;

gig. 4 is a similar view showing anotherform thereof; an

Fig. 5 is a similar view showing a single form of suspension tab.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, the invention is illustrated in connection. with a. girdlev generally designated by the numeral 1 and having along brassiere 2, which normally overlaps the upper edge of the girdle. Any suitable form of girdle and brassiere may be used, as desired, the forms shown being, merely for purpose of illustration.

Provision is made, according to this invention, for providing fastenersthat connect together the lower edge of the brassiere 2'and the upper edge of the girdle 1, to holdthese parts intheirproper overlapping relation. Heretofore it has been customary to use suspension tabs at four points aroundthe body, butlhave found that much improved results can be obtained, according to the form of the invention illustrated in Figs. 1 to 4, by using suspension tabs-of twin form, oneof which is located in the center of the front of' the garment,, and additional tabsare located at opposite sidesof the body. These three points of fastening of the. suspension tabs will be sufiicienttomaintain theparts in proper relation to each other and present much improved effects as a result thereof.

At each point of connection ofthe suspension tabs, 21 suspension loop is used as indicated generally at 3. This suspension loop. 3] maybe formed by a strip of'fabric or elastic tape, folded; in the form of a loop, with the ends thereof'broughhtogether and extending up through, or on the inside, preferably, of thelower edge portion of the brassiere 2. The loop,ca n bestitched at intervals along the length thereof to the fabric of the brassiere, or along the strip, as desired, soas tohold it securely thereto, with the closed side of theloop at, or slightly below, the lower edge of 'tl 1 e brassiere. With the, arrangement of fasteningtabs illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, there will be one such loop immediately atthe front of'thebrassiere and two on each opposite sidew thereof,

The midritf'suspension tab, which is preferably used inthe front of thebrassiere, is illustrated in Fig. 3. This suspension tab comprisesahook buckle 4, from which laterally diverging tabs 5 extend downwardly. Each of the tabs 5 has a hook. 6, at ,the lower end thereof'inposition to engage in an eye, or other connection 7, provided on the girdle 1. The hooks 6 may be of conventional construction as customarily used. Each tab 5 may be provided, if desired, with a slide buckle 8, intermediate the length thereof, or these tabs may be made of elastic material, or both.

The hook buckle 4 is of a form having a bar 9 with a backturned end portion and a V-shaped lower bar 10, also having a backturned end portion. An open throat between these backturned end portions of the upper and lower bars permits the hook buckle to be applied detachably to the loop 3, and also permits detachment of the respective tabs 5 therefrom, if desired. Loops may be formed at the ends of these tabs by turning over the ends and stitching the tapes for detachable application to the hook buckle.

This provides a detachable fastening between the lower edge portion of the brassiere and the upper edge portion of the girdle at the front thereof, which may be adjustable by the slide buckles 8, or by the elastic material of the Patented Sept. 1 ,956

tabs 5, or both. This forms an inverted V-shaped suspension fastener at the front of the garment, directly in the middle thereof, as distinguished from laterally spaced portions as provided heretofore, which is a material improvement in appearance as well as in comfort.

At each opposite side of the garment, a pair of loops 3 are attached to the lower edge portion of the brassiere 2, in the manner described above, which loops are relatively close together but spaced apart. These loops 3 at the side are adapted for engagement by book buckles 11, each of which has upper and lower bars of hook-shape, the upper bar being adapted to engage in the loop 3, while the lower bar receives thereon and holds a downwardly extending tab 12. A pair of tabs 12 extend downwardly from the hook buckles 11, in converging relation to a hook 13 that joins together the pair of tabs 12 and is adapted to engage an eye 14 on the side of the girdle 1, midway between the fastening, as described. Each of the tabs 12 may be made of elastic material, or provided with a slide buckle 15, or both, as desired, for adjustment to accommodate different sized figures.

I have found by actual trial that the side location for the fasteners gives much improved effect when combined with the single front point of connection because these fasteners, will not cut into the flesh and will provide a much smoother contour to the figure. By locating the side fasteners somewhat toward the back of each side of the garment, it will not be necessary to have any hooks in the back, because these twin fastener tabs at the sides will be sufiicient to hold the garments in proper relation to each other. At the same time, they will give the wearer freedom to bend and will always hold the brassiere in place and the clothing free from bulges, with smoother lines, than has been possible heretofore. Moreover, the twin tabs provided both at the front and at the sides give double strength and longer wear, with less danger of causing a pulling loose of the connecting loops on the brassiere. Moreover, they distribute the strain over a wider portion of these respective garments and increase the comfort as well as the appearance of the garment.

It will be noted that the crossbar of each of the slide buckles 8 and 15 is turned inward toward the body, thus preventing any outward bulge that would otherwise result by the provision of an adjustable fastening in the length of the tab.

While any other suitable material may be used both for the hook buckles and the hook members, it is preferred that enamelled metallic parts, or plastic members, be used for these purposes, as these present neat appearance and substantial strength in service. 7

While the invention has been illustrated and described in certain embodiments, it is recognized that variations and changes may be made therein without departing from the invention as set forth in the claims.

I claim:

1. A brassiere comprising a body encircling portion adapted for overlapping relation at the lower edge thereof with the upper edge portion of a girdle, a depending fastening member carried by the body encircling portion approximately midway of the front thereof, and depending fastening members carried by the body encircling portion midway of opposite sides thereof, each of said fastening members including suspension tabs attached at their upper ends to the lower edge of the brassiere in laterally spaced relation and extending downwardly therefrom in converging relation with the ends thereof connected directly together, and a detachable fastening on said lower ends for detachable connection with the adjacent portion of the girdle directly at opposite sides of the latter.

2. A brassiere comprising a body encircling portion adapted for overlapping relation at the lower edge thereof with the upper edge portion of a girdle, said body encircling portion having a suspension loop approximately midway of the lower edge thereof at the front of the body and suspension loops midway of opposite sides of the body encircling portion at the lower edge thereof, a plurality of suspension tabs each having a buckle member at the upper end thereof detachably connecting each tab with one of the suspension loops and extending downwardly in converging relation with the lower ends thereof joined directly together and having a fastener on the lower end thereof for detachable engagement with the girdle directly at the side thereof and holding the brassiere.

in converging relation with the lower ends thereof joined directly together and having a fastener on the lowerend thereof for detachable engagement with the girdle and holding the brassiere in place relative thereto, the suspension tab at the front of the brassiere including laterally divergent portions connected with the buckle member and extending downwardly therefrom.

References Cited in the file of this pat ent UNITED STATES PATENTS 697,596 Anderson Apr. 15, 1902 1,555,903 Brown Oct.6, 1925 2,333,268 Moon Nov. 2, 1943 2,386,909 Rosehill ...1..... Oct. 16. 1945 2,437,654- Rosner Mar. 9, 1948 2,505,242 Herbener Apr. 25, 1950 

